1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dispensing machine for an infusion brewed beverage. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for nonpressurized infusion brewing of a beverage, and specifically preferably tea, freshly brewed in each cycle of the operation of the apparatus from tea leaves. The present apparatus has primary use in a beverage vending machine. By using the present invention, it is possible to freshly brew and dispense individual cups of tea from a vending machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Beverage brewing devices for preparing single cup quantities of liquid beverages by the extraction technique are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,213,777; 3,292,526; 3,349,690; 3,496,861; 3,660,117; and 4,271,573. While the foregoing patents disclose beverage brewing apparatus which was the state of the art at the time of their invention, and performed in a satisfactory manner, they were primarily for the purpose of brewing coffee primarily in vending machines. The brewing mechanisms of these patents employed a means for pressurizing the hot water used to brew the beverage by which hot water was forced through either a preformed filter package including the ground coffee beans or through ground coffee beans directly deposited on a filter assembly in an appropriate brew cavity component. Prior brew assemblies or mechanisms employed an extensive series of cams, sometimes with auxiliary gear segments operating cables, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,753 to enable the complete cycling of the assembly to make a cup of brewed beverage. The use of relatively complicated brew mechanisms which were relatively difficult and expensive to manufacture, assemble and maintain compared to the present invention lead to the development of the present invention.
The present invention is believed to significantly simplify the structure and operation of a beverage brewing mechanism and is particularly adapted for dispensing single cups of freshly brewed tea from tea leaves by using a brew assembly in which it is unnecessary to pressurize the water as it passes through the tea leaves to make the liquid tea beverage. The use of a pressurized mechanism is not desirable in the present invention, as tea is extracted to yield a better tasting freshly brewed tea when the hot water is allowed to flow naturally through the tea leaves by gravity. The present invention operates in a relatively simple, efficient and economical manner cycling from a brew position through a spent tea leaf discharge position and back to the brew position, scraping or wiping the tea leaves off of a filter held in a filter assembly between the brew position and the discharge position.